Pastors (Part B)

How is it going to be a witness to my children if I'm no longer serving in church because I didn't like something petty? So you get up and you serve nonetheless. That's what it takes.

What should you hear? If you meet with a little pressure, quit. Give up.

Satan would love that. It would be three cheers in hell over that decision if you ever made it willfully. Now willfully does not always mean sustained joy.

Sometimes it is all an uphill push, but it must be done. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1st Peter.

Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. Today, Pastor Rick continues his message called Pastors as he teaches through 1st Peter chapter 5. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Peter saw that. He watched him heal people. He watched him walk on water, raise the dead.

He saw him transfigured, the glory of God upon him. Incidentally, those who believe in soul sleep, that transfiguration when Elijah and Moses are there, did they wake up from their nap? I just took passing thought. I should not have gone down that trail.

Some of you are like, huh? Some people believe you go to sleep and just stay sleeping when you die, and the Bible, I believe, rejects that. Anyway, he had been to the empty tomb. He saw the proof. He saw the risen Christ. He watched him materialize in the upper room, and he watched him ascend into glory from the Mount of Olives.

And so he, when he says, a partaker of the glory of Christ, he had experienced these things, and he also knew that eternal life was granted to him and that he would be forever with the Lord, verse 2 now. And so he says, Pastor the flock of God. That is the Greek word, poi maiino. It means to shepherd, to feed as a shepherd. It is translated, shepherd the flock of God. It is a correct translation, but in our language today, we lose sight of the word pastor means to shepherd. That's what it means. It's from the Latin. Shepherd the flock of God, which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly.

I don't care who you are. If you disagree with the assembly of the saints and the structure of leadership, then you disagree with the scripture. And there are a lot of people that claim Christ and him and Hall about this. It's probably good they don't attend churches because they would just be creative of a situation where they would have to be dealt with, and I don't know of any pastor that likes to draw the rod and have to use it, but this shepherd the flock of God. Is it not an echo of the Lord's commission to Peter himself? Pastor the flock, feed them, tend them, shepherd them, take care of them, no matter what they do back to you.

Well, it's the same charge to the people in the pew. You are to uphold Christianity, to preach Christ, to make yourself available in love even to your enemies no matter what they do to you. Peter's ordination was on this day, John chapter 21 verses 15 through 17.

We all know this. If you've been around the scripture, you know it, but maybe it's new to you. Jesus said to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. Now Peter probably thought that was the end of that.

Okay, I'll do that, but it did not stop there. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you, and he said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things.

You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. You can't pastor. You cannot witness effectively if you don't love the Lord, if he is not your passion. Through thick and thin, as we would say, feed my lambs, give the new converts nourishment so they can grow. Tend my sheep, take care of the spiritual needs of God's people according to the scripture, and uphold it to tend to something, to watch over it, to make sure it is as best you can, functioning as best it can under your entrusted hand. Feed my sheep, give pastoral application from God's word.

Well, what does it mean then when he says, teaching them to observe all things, go out and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe. There's an accountability. Unfortunately, many think that grace is permission to allow sin to be sin unchecked. We're not accountable to anyone because we have grace.

Unfortunately, there are those that behave this way. Hebrews chapter 13, remember those who rule over you. He's talking about spiritual matters, not in your private lives, dictating to you where you should work, what car you should have, who you should marry. It's called that type of behavior, shepherding. It is unbiblical.

It is to be rejected. But in the house of God, these men rule over the house of God, as did the rulers of the synagogues in the Jewish system of belief ruled over the synagogue. He says, they rule over you who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow considering the outcome of their conduct. Now we know he's not talking about being a tyrant over them.

Peter's going to say that. We read when we stood, we read not as lords over them, but certainly leaders amongst them. And so again, Hebrews 13, 7, who have spoken the word of God to you. That's the role of the shepherd. These metaphors are not supposed to be wasted. The metaphor for the flock is descriptive. The metaphor for the leader of the flock is the shepherd. We're supposed to be very mindful of these things.

Find out what they mean and then work them. Not just sit down and have a Bible study and get up and behave as though we did not have the Bible study. These things are supposed to produce results in our lives. As I'm standing up here speaking to you, it's supposed to do something, not just give you some nap time.

Okay, see this is why we need a laugh track here. Some of you are sleeping through that one. So writing to Christians in local assemblies. There is the universal church. We agree that there are Christians all over the world.

Most of them we will not meet in this life. We'll have to wait until we're gathered around the throne. But then there is the local assembly.

Every bit of the body of Christ. And that is the application Peter is talking about as he singles out these under shepherds. The flock of God. In the midst of persecution, they were still the flock of God. God did not desert them. Remember 1 Peter is written to Christians who are in the persecution of Nero.

It is not fully escalated yet. It does not seem from the writings of Peter, but we know from history it is going to Proverbs 27 verse 23. Be diligent to know the state of your flocks. Attend to your herds. It has to be attention given to the flock by the shepherd or else things will begin to break down and be torn down and that is never good. The shepherd's rod is an emblem of protection from predators.

Foreign and domestic. In the church and out. Heresies that try to creep in from outside. Trouble that tries to rise up from the inside. In my office I have an illustration of a shepherd there with a rod in his hand, which I think should be an M16, but that's okay.

Artists, they get things wrong. And the wolves are in the background and the little lamb is by his legs. And so that is to remind the shepherd he is there.

Not bearing the rod in vain. Christians, many, tend to believe that shepherds should have no rod of correction. The problem with them in that view is that they disagree with Christ. They disagree with God. If you ever see the shepherds take the rod out and administer church discipline, you probably won't like it. Just remember, they don't like it either.

No alternative. Many times. 1 Timothy chapter 5. Those who are sinning, rebuke in the presence of all that the rest may fear. We tend not to do this today for several reasons.

Lawsuits is just one of them. But we're not trying to humiliate anyone. And yet, if they insist, if they keep pushing, maybe they will find themselves exposed in a way that they would have been better to avoid. 1 Corinthians 4, Paul writes, what do you want? Shall I come to you with the rod or in love and a spirit of gentleness?

We need to get these things in our head, because as Americans, we're so into freedom, and that's good. But the body of Christ is a whole other thing. And you do not, and I do not, know how to automatically fit into this body of Christ. I have to be taught.

I think most people like to learn, but a lot of us don't like to be taught. You're going to have to put your pride down. You're going to make progress with the Lord, because God resists the proud. I don't want God resisting me. It's no contest. It's not like a tug of war, and I might come out a top.

It's you lost, and I wasn't even ready. Do it again. It doesn't work that way. But it is critical to understand, he says, to shepherd the flock of God. It's God's flock. It's never the pastor's flock. Oh yeah, the pastor can say, the flock that I, you know, my flock, and just in conversation, but he's certainly not in a possessive sense, as far as his tour of duty, yes, in that sense.

But among you. So he's saying to the pastors, shepherd the flock, which you belong to. You're one of the sheep too.

Yeah, your teeth are a little bit sharper, because the Lord has fit you with these implants. But you're still one of the sheep. And don't ever forget it. It is an inclusive word. The pastor part of the flock. He says it again in Acts chapter, well Paul does, and Luke writes about Paul saying it in Acts chapter 20, verse 28, as I read earlier. It's referenced to here in verse 1. Moses included himself amongst the people of God. He did not say, I'm the lawgiver. I'm above these people.

Not at all. Numbers chapter 11, and Moses said, the people whom I am among are 600,000 men on foot, yet you have said I will give them meat that they may eat for a whole month. Well, I really should have just cut it off where it says, the people whom I am among. Moses included himself there when he said to the Lord, if your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up. If your presence does not go with us. He's one of them.

He did not say, if you're not going with them, then don't bring them up. He's part of the flock. The emphasis on the vital role of pastor is found throughout scripture. I'll just take this one, Jeremiah 3.15, I will give you pastors according to my heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. We find that carried out through the New Testament, throughout the New Testament. My observation is that churches that do not follow this pattern, this commanded pattern, I should say, they don't do well.

I don't think they serve well. Serving, he says. He says, among you serving as overseers. Now our Lord is not asking first from us, our tears, our hard work, our prayers, our money, or our help.

That's not first on his list. He's asking for you, personally. Singled out from everybody else around you, the Lord is asking for you, he's asking for me. He's asking for a dedicated life. Another thing that I think many people in Christ seem to stumble over, to be confused about, it's very simple, there's nothing confusing about this. When God called me to the ministry, it took him over a decade, let me rephrase it because it makes it sound like he was dragging his feet, although I was thinking that.

I've called to this ministry and had no church, nobody to follow, nobody to do anything with, as far as my calling goes. For years, it hurt so much. It was like a longing. If you've ever been away from home a long time, you know that longing you have to get home? It was that intense. And I have to sometimes remember that. Remember how it was when you were pulling on the leash? Have you lost any of that?

Have you lost the shine? What are you going to do about it? Because God wants the dedicated life, not the moonlighter, not the one who just sees it as a paycheck. He wants the life. When you come to church, he wants the life. When you go get in your cars and begin to deal with your flesh, he wants the life.

It doesn't stop. To us, serving mere human beings is not the same as serving God according to the flesh. But according to the Spirit and according to God, it is the same thing. You've done it to the least of these, you've done it to me, Jesus said. And so, I must be careful that I don't have this attitude that I'm serving God and trampling on people around me. And John calls that out in his first letter and he says, you're a liar. You cannot love the Lord and hate on those around you at the same time.

He says, as overseers, and there's that word episkopos, which is applying to the pastors, not by compulsion, but willingly. As I mentioned, someone has to lead. A headless anything that is functioning is scary, even if it's not. When you see a bug in the backyard with no head, you say, hmm, I just saw one the other day. It was a big bug. All that was left was the head. The body was eaten.

Not by me. So, what about a church that has no head? Or what if it has many heads, like Medusa?

That's pretty spooky, too. That's not how the Lord has arranged it and we must not be embarrassed by this, ashamed of it, or feel like we have to somehow defend ourselves. This is how it is given to us.

It is handed to us. We have a controlled, free will system in Christ. To me, to not believe in free will, in regard to salvation or anything else, is irrational, but compulsion means to be forced to do something unwillingly. And so Peter is saying, you pastors, don't feel like you're forced to do this.

That's not who Christ is looking for. There will be times where a man is in ministry and he may feel locked in. That's right, bind the sacrifice to the altar. Because the Lord knows, if he let your flesh have its way, you would collapse under the pressure.

And so he knows how to put things in place. God rails for all of us who serve the Lord. Maybe you serve in the ministry of the church and you're a little weary of it, but you are concerned how you might look if you're absent without leave. You are concerned, how is it going to be a witness to my children if I'm no longer serving in church because I didn't like something petty? And so you get up and you serve nonetheless. That's what it takes.

What should you hear if you meet with a little pressure? Quit. Give up.

Satan would love that. It'd be three cheers in hell over that decision if you ever made it willfully. Now willfully does not always mean sustained joy. Sometimes it is all an uphill push, but it must be done. Mowing the lawn. There's enough joy in that always, but it has to be done.

And I'm taking volunteers for my house. Anyway, pastors become eventually disappointed in the work. The results aren't what they thought. Ministry is not what they thought. The people are not what they thought.

Not all the people, but enough. And these things, again, they can stack up against him. They can make him feel cornered. And the Lord will let it happen to do his work in that man. That flowing from him will be a reality that will be useful to those whom he has been entrusted to oversee as an under-shepherd. Christ knows what he's doing.

He has many tools to do it. 2 Corinthians 5.14, for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus, that if one died for all, then all died. Paul says it is Christ and my love for him that keeps me moving forward.

The stakes are very high. Eternal salvation of souls is involved here. Christ died for me, a sinner.

It makes perfect sense that I should serve as one whom he died for in the interest of others. 1 Corinthians 9, he says, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. He's not casting pearl before swine in that statement, as Christ said, and we need to watch out for that. You cheapen the gospel when you try to jam it down people's throats. It is far better to be led by the Holy Spirit, and when you get the shot, you're ready and you take it.

Sometimes it takes a long time because we're not ready. Christ is still working in us. Satan challenges every noble cause that you come in touch with in Christ Jesus. I can stand up here and preach all the high things I can preach, and each one of them will be right and each one of them will be tested. And so you can run away, oh pastor, from the ministry if you want to, but remember on the battlefield, desert is a shot often in the back.

I don't want to be one of those. He says not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. We're in verse 2. Have the prosperity teachers ever read their, do they know these words are in the Bible? Can you imagine me standing here saying, if you put a seed offering in of $100, God will bless you and you'll get $200 back. And then a congregation being dumb enough to do it over and over.

We're talking about carrot in front of the cart. That's dishonest. It's a lie.

It's a misrepresentation of the truth. Paul said, except for these chains, I wish you were all together like me. Paul was not a rich man when he said that. Pastors are to feed the flock, not fleece the flock. Jeremiah 48, 10.

And let me pause there. Pastors don't really need to talk about how much you should give in tithe, because you already know. Christians already know what they're supposed to do when it comes to that. And we come to it when we come to it in scripture, and that's it. May I never make money an issue like that with the flock. Anyway, Jeremiah 48. But at the same time, I don't want to be sound as though I've got my act together.

And then I don't want to tell you I don't have it together either. Jeremiah 48, 10. Cursed is he who does not, pardon me, cursed is he who does the work of Yahweh deceitfully.

And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. Who wants to do God's work deceitfully so they can gain? Well, it's the person that doesn't believe God is who he says he is, that they're going to be accountable to him.

The unbeliever pretending to be a believer. 2 Corinthians 2, I have a few of these I want to read. For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. I like when Paul says we're not peddling the word of God.

As so many, because even in his day when the apostles were still ministering, there were already these charlatans, these swindlers popping up. And they're here to this day. But you should know them. You should know them by their words and their behaviors. Mainly their words. Because if their words don't match what the scripture says, then why are you enduring them?

Why are you supporting them? Empowering them? 1 Thessalonians 1, 5, for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. Paul says to the Thessalonians, you know what kind of men we were. We showed up to you bleeding from the caning we received in Philippi. You know what we were doing with the gospel.

I love that. It's just unashamed and right out there. And not worrying about anything but the truth. He goes on in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8, so affectionately longing for you we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because you had become dear to us. See that's pastoring. That's shepherding the flock. He doesn't have to put the word on that.

Just holds up the activity. We connect the dots on our own. We're so glad you tuned in today to study the book of 1 Peter on Cross Reference Radio. Cross Reference Radio is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia. And we're blessed to bring you God's word with each podcast. If you'd like more information about this program or want to listen to additional teachings from Pastor Rick, please visit our website crossreferenceradio.com. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never have to miss a program. Just search for Cross Reference Radio in iTunes, Google Play Music or your favorite podcast app. We hope you'll tune in again next time to join us as we continue our study through the scriptures right here on Cross Reference Radio.